A threat to world peace

It is regrettable that the tension in the Korean peninsula has been ratcheted up several notches by the latest nuclear test by the DPRK. It has come at a time when the US and DPRK are teetering on the brink of a flare-up which would have been catastrophic for the rest of the world.  We join our voice to the worldwide chorus of condemnation that the nuclear test has rightly generated. 

The indicators have been very clear. That the hermit kingdom was preparing to match its intercontinental delivery capability with appropriate payload was eminently apparent considering the series of missile tests conducted by the regime of Kim Jong-un since he assumed power.

Regrettably, the consequences of this will be an unbridled arms race in the region,and we are already seeing the signs of it with South Korea giving the go-ahead to deploy more anti-missile system and other military assets in its territory, and similar will be the compulsion for Japan to do likewise to protect itself. And equally worrisome aspect of the nuclear test is that it has snuffed the international efforts to denuclearize the Peninsula.

Given the recklessness displayed by DPRK there is a need to double the international efforts to engage it in negotiations to persuade it to go no further and roll back its nuclear programme, and for China and Russia to double down on it to restrain itself. It is time also to consider restarting the 6- Nation talks to address the problem. After all, a military option to resolve the issue is imponderable. There is also, we feel, need to revisit the non-proliferation regime and plug the loopholes therein.